The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is
christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips
and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
[intro track to War of Ages album Fire from the Tomb]
Popularized by the 1995 dc Talk track “What if I stumble?
Brennan Manning
How I treat a brother or sister from day to day,
how I react to the sin-scarred wino on the street,
how I respond to interruptions from people I dislike,
how I deal with normal people in their normal confusion on a normal day may be a better indication of my reverence for life
than the antiabortion sticker on the bumper of my car.
Ragamuffin GospelBrennan Manning
In a futile attempt to erase our past, we deprive the community of our healing gift. If we conceal our wounds out of fear and shame, our inner darkness can neither be illuminated nor become a light for others.
[Abba's Child]
Brennan Manning
“When I get honest, I admit I am a bundle of paradoxes.
I believe and I doubt, I hope and get discouraged,
I love and I hate, I feel bad about feeling good,
I feel guilty about not feeling guilty.
I am trusting and suspicious.
I am honest and I still play games.
Aristotle said I am a rational animal;
I say I am an angel with an incredible capacity for beer.
Brennan Manning
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark.
In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God’s grace means.
As Thomas Merton put it,
‘A saint is not someone who is good but who experiences the goodness of God.
Brennan Manning
The gospel of grace nullifies our adulation of televangelists, charismatic superstars, and local church heroes.
It obliterates the two-class citizenship theory operative in many American churches.
For grace proclaims the awesome truth that all is gift.
[The Ragamuffin Gospel]
Brennan Manning
We should be astonished at the goodness of God,
stunned that he should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at his love,
bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.
Ragamuffin GospelBrennan Manning
Do you realize that in a profoundly human way – the God of
Jesus loves you?
He loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness;
beyond fidelity and infidelity.
He loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain without caution, regret, boundary or breaking point.
No matter what’s gone down – He can’t stop loving you!
He loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness;
beyond fidelity and infidelity.
He loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain without caution, regret, boundary or breaking point.
No matter what’s gone down – He can’t stop loving you!
Brennan Manning
 |
| Brennan Manning (Photo credit: Jordon) |
He was the man who said Jesus loved the people around him and that his Father was willing to take them all up in His Kingdom if they wanted to come to Him.
In his book "The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled Beat-Up and Burnt Out" Manning takes aim at those “so-called Christians who disfigure the face of God, mutilate the gospel of grace, and intimidate others through fear.” He finds it unthinkable that the church rejects those who are accepted by Jesus. Jesus loves those whom the Father loves. If Jesus accepts sinners then God accepts sinners – and He does. How can any of us enter the Kingdom except that God accepts us in our sinful state? (Romans 5:8)
